With around half the division in danger of falling into the Championship, we analyse which clubs have the most to fear

West Brom look to be a write-off even though their fixture list seems relatively favourable. Their form is deteriorating rather than improving, and the injury to Daniel Sturridge is an unfortunate, if foreseeable, blow. Stoke, by contrast, are improving, seemingly energised by Paul Lambert, some astute January signings and an in-form Xherdan Shaqiri. The fear is all that is too little, too late, especially with a difficult run-in. Crystal Palace will survive if Wilfried Zaha returns to fitness soon. Southampton are extremely wasteful and often quite boring but have enough class to stay up. Haplessness clings to West Ham like a foul smell but they will probably linger, too, thanks to their firepower. Huddersfield have found a second wind, as well as a much-needed schemer (Alex Pritchard). Brighton’s home form should see them right, although their run-in is tough. Newcastle and Watford can pull out big results in times of need. Swansea, meanwhile, have found a method and spirit under their new manager but their squad remains weak and their resurgence looks set to peter out like a bad Carlos Carvalhal analogy.

Carlos Carvalhal has made a big impression in a short period of time at Swansea and that pattern continued as the Welsh club racked up a sixth successive home win, at the expense of the team their Portuguese manager parted company with on Christmas Eve, to reach their first FA Cup quarter-final since 1964. Tottenham Hotspur or Rochdale will visit the Liberty Stadium a fortnight on Saturday after second-half goals from Jordan Ayew and Nathan Dyer ended Sheffield Wednesday’s hopes of causing an upset.

Ayew’s goal was his ninth of the season and provided a rare moment of excitement in a fifth-round tie that took a long time to come to life. Wednesday, 17th in the Championship, created the better chances in the first half but Swansea’s class eventually told as the Premier League club attacked with much more belief and ambition after the interval. Ayew, the club’s leading scorer, came off the bench to put Swansea ahead and Dyer, set up by Tammy Abraham, added a late second as Carvalhal’s side moved to within 90 minutes of a trip to Wembley.

It’s been 38 minutes of turgid fare at the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat. No goals yet. But Gareth Bale’s just gone in the book for hanging out a leg to bring down Darder. He can have no complaints, and to be fair he doesn’t bother making any.

England hopefuls have a mixed afternoon, confusion for Serge Aurier and Romelu Lukaku finally does it against a top-six team

The weight of goals that Sergio Agüero has scored against Arsenal, with Sunday’s strike a fifth in five matches, should have raised Shkodran Mustafi’s awareness of the Argentinian to red alert. Instead, Agüero was allowed to scamper on and score a route one opening goal from Claudio Bravo’s goalkick. It was a hideous lapse in concentration and application from the Germany defender, by no means the first of a type that frequently costs Arsène Wenger. Arsenal have suffered a drought of gold standard defenders since the loss of Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole as long ago as 2006. There have been quality creative players and forwards galore since then but Wenger’s blind spot for defenders and defensive organisation has been a crucial factor in his team’s multiple failures. John Brewin

Carlos Carvalhal said it would be “OK” if his Swansea City side did not reach the FA Cup quarter-finals but his body language at the final whistle indicated that the impending replay in south Wales is less than acceptable.

This is what so often happens when weakened teams with other ambitions contest cup ties with their collective mindsets half a yard off the pace; in football’s version of “cock up rather than conspiracy” they end up with yet another unwanted fixture.

In a rare interview, Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien talk about the criticism they have faced, how they were delighted to be proved wrong on Alfie Mawson and the club’s future

Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien are at the other end of a transatlantic line, extolling the impact of Carlos Carvalhal, acknowledging mistakes in the summer transfer window, dismissing concerns about asset-stripping, vowing to improve recruitment and singing the praises of Mike van der Hoorn, yet there is one point in particular that Swansea’s majority shareholders are keen to get across.

“We can be criticised,” Kaplan says. “We’ve made some poor transfer decisions, no doubt. Nobody gets it right all the time. Our record has been mixed and this past summer wasn’t very good. That’s fair criticism. What’s unfair criticism is to say that we haven’t invested everything that the club has generated, and then some, to try to improve the team.”

For Liverpool it is jarring anomalies like these that have blighted their attempted transition into title contenders. Jürgen Klopp’s side badly lacked mojo on a night when they lost their 18-match unbeaten run against Swansea City, the Premier League’s bottom club.

Carlos Carvalhal had said his team must make do with buying sardines and not lobster at the start of this month but this courageous performance, to earn only their fifth league win of the season, threw Liverpool behind the trawler.

The winter window opens on 1 January with most clubs desperate to make signings. Here we look at the 20 clubs and the players they hope will arrive

Arsène Wenger anticipates that he will be busier fielding enquires about fringe players in his squad – he would be open to moving a few out – but he would be interested in an addition if the opportunity presented itself. The want-away Alexis Sánchez will draw the focus. He might prefer to wait for a Bosman move in the summer but an offer from Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain would change the dynamic. Arsenal would be compelled to consider it.